Oregon passed a law in 2019 to make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent if Washington and California also approved the change, and Federal law allowed the change. Federal law does not currently allow full-time DST.

In the last four years, 18 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide for year-round daylight saving time, including Washington and California.

None of that matters if Congress doesn’t act.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate took a surprise unanimous vote to make DST permanent by passing the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021.

The federal proposal would supersede any state laws. If it passes, all of Oregon, including Malheur County, would be permanently on daylight time. The Oregon State law alone excludes Malheur County, the only Oregon county that observes Mountain Time.

Daylight saving time has long been a topic of discussion in Congress on the potential benefits and the costs of daylight saving time since it was first adopted as a wartime measure in 1942.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The proposal will now go to the House, where the Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing to discuss possible legislation last week. The chair, Representative Frank Pallone Jr., agreed it was time to quit changing clocks, but was uncertain whether it should be daylight savings time or standard time.

Perhaps the U.S. Senate made that decision for him.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-03-19 17:12:19

Last Update: 2022-03-20 19:59:31